Since the aerostatic bearing is a bearing of none contact, having higher linear precision and without any vibration as usually caused by coarse surfaces of contact type of bearing, it has widely been used in various types of precision machines and test instruments. However, since the aerostatic bearing uses compressed air as fluid lubricant, an air hammer phenomenon in such a bearing is susceptible to rise; therefore, such air hammer effect has been an existing problem to be overcome in aerostatic bearing. Moreover, the rigidity and carrying capacity of an aerostatic bearing are important features to be considered during design, because of such features determine the function of a machine requiring high precision.
In the conventional aerostatic bearing, the rigidity and carrying capacity of the bearing are usually increased by elevating the air pressure or increasing the size of the pocket; unfortunately, to elevate the air pressure or to increase the size of the pocket would result in air hammer phenomenon, and therefore the problems to be solved are how to obtain a higher carrying capacity and rigidity so as to eliminate the air hammer phenomenon.